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Rapper DMX Pleads Guilty To One Count Of Tax Fraud

Earl Simmons, known by millions as rapper DMX, has plead guilty to one count of tax fraud after prosecutors alleged he withheld $1.7 million in taxes during a five-year span.

He’ll be back in court March 29 to find out his sentence. He could be looking at five years behind bars.

The rapper was charged in July with 14 counts of tax fraud and plead not guilty then. At that time, DMX had blamed those in charge of him for the tax evasion, which took place from 2010 to 2015. This was the timeframe in which he did not file any taxes. However, in his latest court appearance, he said he alone was responsible, and he failed to file his taxes.

As part of their case against the rapper, prosecutors alleged he refused to be a part of Celebrity Couples Therapy until he was issued a check that didn’t hold out taxes. Prosecutors alleged he liked to live the “cash lifestyle” and would deposit his money into the bank accounts of his managers to hide his actual income.

Acting U.S. attorney for New York’s Southern District Joon H. Kim said Simmons admitted to routinely cheating on his taxes, asking for payments in cash and making sure royalty payments were deposited into financial surrogates. Kim said Simmons hid hundreds of thousands of dollars in money earned from the federal government and IRS.

He also said Simmons did the right thing by pleading guilty and would be paying his tax liabilities. Kim said it doesn’t matter how un-famous or famous a person is; everybody must pay their taxes.

DMX, as part of his plea, would pay the IRS back via his future earnings and royalties.

Murray Richman, DMX’s attorney, said his client feels guilty because he didn’t supervise his life properly, leaving it up to others to contend with. Richman said DMX is owning up to this fact.